The Project
by BlackLodgeinhabitant
Summary: Balthazar and Castiel find out there is a huge conspiracy going on in heaven. It would be best for both of them to follow orders and ignore what is going on. It would be ...


**The Project**

Rating: PG

Season: -

Spoiler: non

Disclaimer: All characters and all rights of Supernatural belong to Warner Brothers Entertainment Inc. This Fan fiction was written for entertainment purposes only; I am not making money out of it. All similarities with persons alive or dead are coincidence.

"Do you ever think of retirement?" the question was a total surprise for Castiel.

"Why would I?" he replied.

"Are you never getting tired of this?" Balthazar pointed down the fortification wall they were sitting on. In front of them was the army of Thutmosis III. Behind them patrolled the army of Sovereign Khadesh.

The sun was burning high in the sky and the soldiers were sweating in their armors. The two angels sat on the wall invisible to the eye of those men.

"Watching them?"

"Well, yes... no, I mean watching them bashing their tiny brains in. Isn't that disgusting?" he frowned.

"I suppose it is." Castiel shrugged. He had never thought about this. He was there to observe the battle so he did. Unfortunately this battle had changed into a siege. The Egyptian army had been too eager to plunder the outskirts of Megiddo. Khadesh and his men fled into the inner fort where they had stayed since. The recent days had been filled with constant dying. Inside the fort people were starving and outside it soldiers died in senseless attack waves. A constant smell of blood and foul lay over the desert and seemed stationed between the city and Mount Camel.

Castiel had no problem ignoring it but it filled Balthazar with disgust.

He had been the one volunteering for this job, finally a few days outside the garrison without Camael constantly shouting.

The angel of war loved his exercises. He yelled at the angels, making sure they knew that this was only for their own good. They needed to be prepared he repeated again and again. They always had to be prepared. Nobody could say what for but nobody dared to speak up against an Elohim.

So when Balthazar saw a way out he had volunteered for both of them.

Now he regretted it. Sitting there was boring and though he liked his brother, Castiel was not the chatty type. He had his orders so he just stared at the battle field to report later to their superior.

Balthazar started picking up tiny stones, collected them next to his thigh and then flipped them at Castiel.

"Do you deliberately behave like a human child?" the angel asked without turning his head.

"What is so interesting down there? There is practically nothing happening. Why not take a walk or use these vessels for something fun? Who knows when we will be able to leave the garrison again?" Balthazar tried to make his idea tempting for his brother. Castiel just turned his head and frowned, „We have orders, brother."

"Of course we have but is that all? All we do? Just plain obeying? No distraction what-so-ever?" Balthazar moaned.

"You seem to have difficulties controlling your vessel's emotions," Castiel remarked.

At that very moment the two angels heard a fluttering noise.  
They turned their heads and saw Gabriel approaching.

"Here you are, you two mutton heads. How long have you been here already? One month? Two?" like always Gabriel was in a good mood.

"Six to be excact.," corrected Castiel.

"Guys, guys you are always where the fun is," Gabriel grinned.

"What's happening up there? Anything exciting?" Balthazar pointed up to the cloudless blue sky.  
"Well, big news, fellas. Father is about to send his son down here," Gabriel was very excited.  
"And I am the one to announce this. Michael will be so pissed." The Archangel giggled.

"And who will our father be sending?" Balthazar asked.  
"None of us, that's for sure. I guess he is cooking something or someone up already with Metatron, that little boot-licker. Zadkiel said he hasn't outside the throne room for months," replied Gabriel.

"Does that mean a battle is coming?" Balthazar wanted to know.

"Not sure about that." Gabriel shrugged.

"Why did you come here, Gabriel?" Castiel asked.

"I wanted to share this information with my two favorite brothers, that's why," the Archangel answered.

"You just wanted to tell everyone yourself, didn't you, brother?" Balthazar said conspiratorially.

"Well...yes," his brother admitted, "Isn't it just great news?!"

"It surely guarantees a place in human history," Balthazar nodded impressed while Castiel still stared at the desert in front of him.

"He hardly moves you know," Balthazar pointed in Castiel's direction.  
"He is his master's favorite watch dog, I heard," the Archangel grinned. "Always watching the flock."  
"I'll be off then, see if I can find Hashmael before he hears it through the grapevine. See you around, boys." then he was gone.

The two angels continued observing that there was not a lot to observe. Balthazar started entertaining himself by throwing his little stone collection onto passing soldiers. Then he kept moaning about being bored.

After another month the battle had finally ended with Thutmosis' victory so Castiel and Balthazar had returned to the garrison. Now they were awaiting further orders.

While waiting for Camael, Uriel followed by Gabriel had joined them.  
Uriel was happy. He now was not the only one who had to suffer from the endless monologues of the Archangel about how to announce the birth of God's son.

"What do you think? How about setting a bush on fire?" Gabriel suggested.  
"I guess that way of communication is strictly reserved for God," Castiel pointed out.  
Gabriel rolled his vessel's eyes.  
"I could use a vessel and..." he continued.

"Aren't you supposed to be visible as a messenger from heaven? Who would believe an ordinary man telling a woman he was sent from heaven? Doesn't that sound like a cheap pick up line?" Balthazar remarked.

"Hmm, good point," Gabriel nodded.  
"How about I..."  
"Don't you guys get a script for this?" Uriel moaned. He was bored from the Archangel's ideas which he had explained in epic broadness.  
"A script! Where is the beauty of improvisation in that! This should be unique and not scribbled down by some filthy prophet," Gabriel snorted.

A Galearis appeared. Balthazar believed his name was Aalbiel- one of Michael's Galeari.  
"Camael has time for you now," he said and vanished again.  
"So sorry we have to go," Balthazar grinned while Uriel frowned.

"Welcome back, brothers,"Camael greeted them busily, "Did you enjoy your little field trip?"  
"I, erm..."Cas started.  
"Yes, very relaxing," Balthazar interrupted his brother sarcastically.

"I understand your displeasure, brother, but we had to make sure no Pagan God would interfere here. This battle was vital for our projects in the Middle East," explained the Elohim.  
"Our projects?" Balthazar asked angrily.  
"Yes, all Spheres have been working on this for centuries," he nodded as if to reassure himself of that.  
"But you are not going to inform ordinary angels about this little project of yours? "remarked Balthazar.  
"You are right, brother, I am not. Now what happened? Anything supernatural?"  
Castiel shook his head, "no brother, no interference by the Pagans."  
"Very well then. You are dismissed. And get rid of those vessels, will you?"  
"That was all?!" Balthazar was upset. "Seven months on this stinking rock and nothing more than a three minute debriefing!"

Castiel threw a warning look over his shoulder. What his brother did was very dangerous. These days everyone was so tense any wrong comment could easily be misunderstood as an act of rebellion.  
"Thank you, Sir", the Angel of Thursday nodded and grabbed his brother's arm.  
"You heard him, we are dismissed," the look he gave Balthazar didn't accept any protest.

"Why did you do that?" Balthazar was upset.  
"You are seriously asking me? You were about to talk yourself very deeply into trouble," Castiel explained.  
"So what? What do you think this office sitter would have done?"  
"He's not just any office sitter, he is the Elohim of all garrsions! Of all 144,000 angel soldiers! He's our superior and we don't question his word! Don't you remember what happend to Lucifer?" Castiel was obviously scared.  
"You are seriously scared of them!" Balthazar was surprised.  
"You aren't?" Castiel stared at him.  
"Why would I be? I haven't done anything wrong! They can't forbid us to speak our minds! This is heaven not earth!" Balthazar shook his head.  
"But Omael..."objected Castiel.  
"He was not cast into the abyss, Cas, he is still here."  
"But have you seen him recently? Something must have happened to him, he is so quiet. He hardly speaks to anyone," Castiel was still worried.  
"No I haven't. I haven't seen him in a while to be honest, but if you want to find out what really happened, brother, you have to talk to him."

It took Castiel a while to find the Angel of Multiplicity. He was on his duty rounds in the area of Kanaan when the angel finally found his brother who as usual sat with Samandriel, the Angel of Fertility. They were discussing something quietly.

"Hello brothers," greeted the Angel of Thursday as he approached.  
"Hello, Castiel", Samandriel smiled while Omael simply looked up.  
"What can we do for you?" Samandriel asked.  
"I wanted to check on Omael. Is he... Are you okay, brother? You seemed a bit rattled recently."  
Omael looked up again and smiled, "Sit with us, brother."

Castiel sat down next to Omael and looked at him full of expectation.  
"I feel much better now, Castiel. Thanks for asking."  
"What happened to you, brother? I heard … they said.."

Samandriel stepped in, "They were false accusations, all of it and eventually we proved it."  
Omael smiled again, "Patience, brother, patience and belief that was all it took."  
Samandriel rolled his eyes. Obviously he disagreed," it was quite a bit more than that. I had to keep the crops unattended for months!"  
"And I am grateful for that, brother, "Omael said in a soft almost sleepy tone.

Castiel turned to Samandriel, "What did they do to him?"  
Samandriel was obviously as worried as Castiel but he just shrugged, "I don't know. He just vanished. I thought I had lost him and then finally I had the chance to speak on his behalf and there he was again."  
"But he is not himself anymore," Castiel said.  
"Like they drugged him. This is just not fair. He didn't do anything wrong," Samandriel nodded.  
"But why did they do that to him? There are rumors but what did actually happen?"  
"It was nothing but a big misunderstanding. Zachariah and the others thought... well, Omael was part of the 10th Corps, you know," Samandriel looked away as if talking about their fallen brothers made him feel uncomfortable.

"Oh, erm, I see."

"But he was not. He did not... you know, he was none of the Grigori. He never actually was … with one of the human women. All they found on him was a papyrus with erm, compromising contense... but you know he, he, he's always prayed to when women cannot get pregnant. It's you know, his job to know those … erm, things," Samandriel had blushed.  
Castiel nodded, "I believe you, brother."  
"I wish I could make all this right, clean his name, stop the rumors, you know?" Samandriel was very unhappy.  
"You will have my assistance, brother," Castiel assured.  
Omael smiled like he would smile about little children.  
"All you have to do is being patient, Castiel. This is not the time to speak up, this is the time to wait. You will find your strength when it is time."  
"What do you mean?" Castiel was confused.  
"Oh, they think what they do is for the greater good," explained the angel.  
"But I don't understand what all of this has to do with the greater good, I don't see this make any sense, I don't see any divine plan in this," Castiel sighed.  
"Oh, they have a plan, a very elaborate plan. And it just started in Megiddo. The Pagans were too confident, they signed their own funeral."

He started humming and stared at some point far away.  
"I am sorry, Castiel, but you have to go now," Samandriel said insistently  
"You see, he is not feeling well."  
"I am not a human child, Samandriel," moaned Omael.  
"But I need your help down here right now, remember? We spoke about platypus population. You said you wanted to look into this," the angel pointed downwards.  
"Oh, right, I remember. Those poor little platypuses," Omael smiled again and was gone.

"So you think they are up to something and Omael knows about it?" Balthazar nodded after Castiel finished his report.  
"At least we know why it was so important for Camael that the Pagans did not intervene..."  
"Cause if they had intervened they had to fear their wonderful little plan would go rotten,"Balthazar ended Castiel's sentence.  
"Exactly," his brother agreed."  
But asking what they are up to would only cause trouble?" Balthazar expressed what both of them were thinking.  
"Far too dangerous," the other angel said.  
"So absolutely stupid idea to dig any deeper," his brother nodded.  
"Indeed," Castiel remarked.  
"Letting this go would be the best thing to do, wouldn't it?"  
"Absolutely."  
"Well, good thing we talked about this and took the time to consider our options."  
Both angels smiled.

"Do you think this is the best approach?" Castiel asked again.  
"I told you the last three times I know what I am doing here," Balthazar replied.  
They were lurking around Camael's office when a Galearis passed.  
She was so busy that it took her a while to notice that another angel had joined her. He smiled so she took all the courage she had and asked, "Why are you still wearing your vessel, brother?"

"Hmm, that is a very intelligent question... what was your name again?"  
"Neha," she said.  
" I am Johphiel's Galearis," the small angel showed a hint of pride in her voice.  
"Oh, your boss is the Angel of Truth, well that must be a good job then," Balthazar cajoled the little angel.  
"The best, nobody can hide anything from him!" Her aura started glowing.  
"And what about you? Can he hide things from you?" he spoke to her like he always did to human children.  
"Noo of course not! Besides he is my friend why would he hide something from me?"  
"You are right, silly me," Balthazar nodded.  
Neha was obviously satisfied with his answer.  
"What would he say if someone would actually keep a secret from him?"  
"He would be angry but nobody would dare to do something like that," she said with utter conviction.  
"So he knows everything?" Balthazar dug deeper.  
"Of course," she replied.  
"Even about the secret joint project of the Spheres?" he said with a conspiratorial voice.  
"I..I..I guess so," she seemed unsure.  
"So you don't know if he knows?" the angel asked.  
"I.. this is not my job, you know, I just help," she shrugged.  
"So it would be your job to get him this information if he didn't know?" he was quite pushy.  
"Yes, I think so," she nodded.  
"So, good, why don't we go and get this information for him?" Balthazar suggested.  
"But..." she tried to protest.  
"Creative thinking my little friend, get the information before he can even ask for it. That's the spirit that will get you further," he started dragging the little angel back to Camael's office.

"Why do I have to do this?" Neha's muffled voice came from inside Camael's empty office.  
"Because I have to guard you," replied Balthazar.  
"Right," she sighed "But what is it I am looking for?"  
"Anything that looks top secret I guess", came his answer from outside.  
"And you are sure Jophiel would want me to help you?" she asked.  
"Yes of course, Jo and I we are close friends, best buddies you can think of," Balthazar frowned.  
"Got it! I think," the little angel sidled through the door.  
"What is it?" Balthazar took the file off her.  
"Don't know, she shrugged "It looked important so I took it, it's marked with For Intelligence that sounds pretty secret."  
"Now we better get going."

They met Castiel on earth where they hoped to have enough privacy to take a closer look at the file.  
"This has nothing to do with their plan," said Balthazar disappointed.  
"What is it anyway?" Neha tried to reach for the papers but couldn't.  
"Nah, you leave this to the adults," the angel handed the file to his brother.  
"But you said we would get the information to Jophiel!" insisted Neha.  
"And we will, after my brother and I had a look at it," Balthazar rebuked the Galearis.  
Neha was pouting.  
"You were right, Balthazar, this has nothing to do with the plan Camael mentioned but still it provides us with answers, "Castiel went through the paperwork.  
"Have you ever heard of a sister named Naomi?"  
"Never, why are you asking?" Balthazar replied.  
"She is mentioned here as assistant in this investigation. Apparently she took care of the way the sentence against the 10th Corps was carried out," the Angel of Thursday explained.  
"Lovely person from the sound of it," Balthzar remarked.

"Their wings got burned and they were chained to rocks while they still wore their vessels," a shiver went down his vessel's spine "And then they were cast out in the endless darkness, so no one would hear from them again. They were sent out into space!" Castiel gasped.  
Balthazar scrunched up his face "What a horrible way to die."  
"They kept Omael for further interrogation conducted by sister Naomi. That's about all it says," Castiel closed the file.  
"So what ever this sister did made him go gaga," Balthazar assumed.  
Castiel nodded in consent."So what now?"  
"Now we do what I promised," Balthazar took the file and got up.

"Where have you been?" Jophiel welcomed his Galearis and her company.  
"I.. I was.. we were.." she stuttered.  
"I told you not to wonder off alone," the angel admonished his Galearis.  
"Thank you for bringing her back, brothers. She is my youngest, she still has trouble finding her way round here," his aura was of a bright blue obviously he was worried about his small angel.  
"But I, we..." she tried to protest.  
"Yes, well not a problem at all," Balthazar smiled.  
"Is that the only reason you are here, brothers?" Jophiel asked surprisingly direct.  
"No, of course not! Give him the file!" Neha demanded impatiently.  
"What file?" Jophiel's aura showed yellow spots of distrust. "Why are you wearing your vessels?"  
"This is not what it looks like, brother," Castiel tried to intervene.

"No, so what is it, brother? What are you hiding from me? Isn't it the reason you still wear this meat suit? You don't want to show your true colours, do you?" the yellow spots grew darker.  
At that moment Neha grabbed the file from Balthazar's hands and handed it to Jophiel. "We recovered this information for you, well, I did," her little aura turned light green from pride and joy.

"You did what?" Jophiel asked surprised.  
"I recovered information about some angel conspiracy," Neha said with utter conviction.  
Jophiel took the file and went through it.  
"You used my Galearis to steal this off Camael, didn't you?" Jophiel sounded angry while dark green spots appeared on his aura.  
"Easy, brother, stealing is such a harsh word," Balthazar started justifying their actions.  
"Technically he is right, brother," Castiel agreed with Jophiel  
"Oh thank you for being so helpful, Cas," Balthazar hissed.  
"Are you not happy?" Neha asked with the innocence of a human child.  
"I am happy you are back," Jophiel replied and went through the file.  
"There is nothing in there I didn't know before," he said and threw it onto his desk.  
"You knew they tortured our brothers like that?" the other angels were suprised.  
"Of course I did. Nobody can hide things from me especially not Zachariah on a crusade," he said amused.  
"And you just let it happen?" Neha sounded scared.  
"There are things my little Galearis not even God can forgive," her boss stated.  
"But what did they do to deserve this?" Castiel whispered.  
"They did horrible things, things no angel is allowed to do," Jophiel answered his question without really answering it.  
"But doesn't God forgive everything? Isn't it that what the humans believe?" Balthazar joined in.  
"Maybe he forgives what his human pets do but surely not what our kind does and you cannot forgive those who violated the very basic rules of our existence," Jophiel admonished his brothers.  
"Were they really, I mean did they... with humans?" Castiel tried to approach the subject carefully.  
"Well, yes brother they did and more than that. Asasel taught humans to use weapons. This is not the way we were supposed to interact with them! We are supposed to be role models and live in celibacy when we walk among them. I heard that a vessel can cause irritation with angels, they show human emotions but that is no excuse! Not for us! We are God's true sons not a bunch of teenage humans! That's why there was no other verdict possible than the one they got," Jophiel explained.

Balthazar and Castiel looked at each other in astonishment. Jophiel cared more about the behaviour of those angels than about the fact that they had been his brothers.  
Neha's aura had turned grey, the little Galearis hid scared behind the angel's vessels. This was obviously not a side of Jophiel she had encountered before.  
"But how could you do this to your brothers?" Castiel asked.  
"I didn't do anything to them, I was just there to find out the truth. This is nothing an angel like Zachariah or sister Naomi can do on their own. I sense every lie but I don't judge that's Zagzaguel's job and I don't envy him," Jophiel clarified.  
"But you know everything that's going on here how can you handle this?" Castiel asked.  
"It is my job, God gave me this job so I make it work," he sounded proud but unhappy.  
"I see," Castiel nodded.  
"There is no need to be afraid you can come out now," Jophiel assured Neha.  
Neha slowly left her hiding place, little grey spots smudged her clear white aura.  
"You should go now, brothers. I won't report you for my Galearis' sake but I don't want to see you near her again," Jophiel ushered the two angels out of his quarter.

"Well, that was a blow," Balthazar sighed.  
They had risked a lot but didn't gain any information on the mysterious project.  
Castiel nodded "We should really get rid of these vessels before we arise even more attention, you heard Jophiel."  
"It's a shame actually, we didn't have any time to use them for something fun," Balthazar mumbled.  
Castiel gave him an irritated look.

Reluctantly Balthazar left his vessel when he heard the humming.  
"Do you hear that?" he asked his brother.  
Castiel nodded, "Sounds like the same melody Omael was humming."

The two angels left their vessels behind and followed the sound.  
It just took a few minutes until they encountered the Angel of Multiplicity he was watching a flock of vultures feeding their chicks.  
"Hello brother," Castiel greeted Omael.  
"Oh, hello Castiel... and what was your name again, brother?"  
"Balthazar, brother," the other angel replied.  
"I see, pleased to meet you brother Balthazar," Omael still seemed a bit rattled.  
"Have you seen those beautiful creatures?" he pointed at the birds.  
"Our father's true miracles, they have wings like us but they have their families like humans. They don't lead wars they are happy with everything they have," the angel sighed.  
"Why cannot all creation be like them?"  
"That certainly would make things easier," Castiel agreed.  
"And have you seen those bees, Castiel?" he pointed at a hive close by.

"There is nothing more fascinating than watching bees, you have to try it one day! See those beautiful hives, they build it with nothing more than chewed wood and their saliva, that's nature's true art!", Omael reported enthusiastically.  
"Right, very pretty spid – art," Balthazar didn't sound as enthusiastic.  
"You are right, brother this is really, erm, pretty," Castiel nodded although he was not entirely convinced. Maybe it would take some time to really understand those creatures.  
''Listen, Omael, we would like to ask you something about this plan you mentioned when you spoke to Castiel," Balthazar was too curious to continue the small talk.  
''What is it you want to know?" his brother replied.  
''Well, basically everything," the angel admitted.  
''There are some things, my dear brothers, you should better not know of. Some truth is too hard to bear, believe me. Some things just … make you very sad," Omael said with a sad voice. He started humming again.  
''Well, it never can be that sad," Balthazar ignored Omael's unwillingness to tell them.  
''Don't be so sure, brother," another voice warned.  
''Yruel!" the two angels said suprised.  
The Angel of Fearlessness approached them still wearing a vessel covered in dirt and blood, he obivously wanted to return his vessel after a fight.  
''He won't tell you, brothers, not in this state," he explained.  
''We would like to hear it anyway, brother," Castiel assisted Balthazar.  
''Very well, he gave you a fair warning. I will tell you what I know about his story. I guess it is just the tip of the iceberg but he was a member of my battalion so we kind of went through tough times together," Yruel explained.

''Omael was assigned to Michael's Battalion after he had been with the 10th Battalion for a short time, you know he is not the poster child for being a warrior. He always has errands to run with animals or what ever he is doing down here. He spend most of his time with us from the garrison during the trials of the 10th Battalion, so he wasn't present during it and nobody wanted him to make a statement in it. Around this time we were assigned to guard certain negotiations. Omael, me and brother Ezekiel were chosen to guard meetings with Osiris and a few other Egyptian Gods. We were stationed pretty close so we overheard a few things. Things an ordinary angel should not be aware of. They made a deal about a little tribe living in Egypt. Our party was given the permission to get them out of Egypt and clear a safe haven for them. In return they would be free to do with the Egyptian people what they wanted no interference from our side. Furthermore both sides agreed not to interfere in any battles between those two doctrine parties. Basically they made a deal about the lives of those people," stated Yruel.

''But those events are past, brother. Moses and his people left Egypt a long time ago. All this fuss about an ancient agreement?" Balthazar wanted to know.  
''This agreement is beyond everything the Pagans could imagine at that time. Everyone knows that souls are the source of all power for us, Gods and angels. And after this stunning public relations piece with separating the ocean and food from heaven and all that we all felt our powers increase when more and more people started believing in the one God and his army," Yruel continued.

"Now the Spheres are starting step two in their little plan. They want to send God's son to earth, some healings here, some miracles there, to make this religion a world wide thing. Imagine all the souls believing in miracles from the one God and his one son! A religion bigger and more powerful than all the others! All it will cost are the lives of a few heathens!. Omael kept asking if that was all there is: entertaining the masses, gaining more power. He was not very happy about it. He asked if this really was God's plan. He did not take part in these negotiations- at least none of us saw God there," Yurel shrugged.

"We swore to observe secrecy about everything that happened there but Omael couldn't. He spoke up and all of a sudden Zachariah remembered he used to be a member of the 10th Battalion. They searched his quarters and found that bloody papyrus. He was arrested and charged for violation of the basic rules. Nobody from us could help him and honestly what should we have done? We swore to keep these things a secret. Even if we hate this plan we cannot disobey direct orders. In the end we are all soldiers and we are not in the position to question our superiors. Omael has never been like the rest of us, he always spoke his mind and this is not what we are supposed to do. You can see what he had got himself into," Yruel ended.

''This means all of this was planned all along," Castiel sighed.  
''Yes and everyone who does not play nice is in danger," Yruel added.  
''So they are sweeping heaven to make it look all nice and shiny no questions allowed?" Balthazar snorted.  
Yruel nodded.  
A few bees flew past them and landed on their hive. The three angels watched the small yellow insects in silence. A little envy made little green spots appear on their aura while the bees reached the safe haven of their home, safe from predators and all the danger outside, a proper home, a safe place.

A feeling all of them lacked.

-The End-


End file.
